I discovered the answer to my personal VPN quest while stuck at the local Firestone service center this week, trying to get the tires on my truck rotated. I spent two hours there and they never managed to do the job. I would have been perturbed had I not made a useful discovery while twiddling my thumbs in the lobby and browsing a worn copy of the July issue of PC Mag.

A review/comparison of several Remote Control applications caught my eye. For some time now I’ve been thinking about how to get access to my files while on the road. I started out by installing a new WiFi/firewall/router, doing a little port forwarding, and getting remote access to Radio.

But that wasn’t enough. I kept getting out on the road and realizing there was just one file I needed, but couldn’t get. I started wondering about creating a personal Private Virtual Network (VPN). It seemed to me this would create secure access to any computer on my network. I got several helpful suggestions but, after looking at all the options, I was still stuck with what seemed to be a genuinely complicated morass of hardware needed to create a true VPN.

The PC Mag article really piqued my interest. I’ve never used a remote control app – PCAnywhere, LapLink, Carbon Copy, etc. – so I never thought much about them. I knew they were used for tech support/help desk apps, and that IT guys use them for remote administration. I just never gave them much thought. When I did think about them, I figured they were too complicated or unreliable for the casual user.

The PC Mag article made me think again. They covered about a half-dozen remote control packages, and did so from the perspective of tele-commuters and road warriors. This helped put my needs in perspective. For now, I really only need access to one computer at home, so a VPN is overkill. After reading the reviews, it looked like everything I need is easily handled by most remote control apps, but one really stuck out – the web-based service GoToMyPC.com. When I got home from Firestone I went directly to my computer and hit GoToMyPC.

This is the way computer services should be. I didn’t have to do anything complicated. I signed up for the 30-day/60-minute free trial and created an account. I downloaded a little Java applet for my host computer and gave it Internet and server privileges on ZoneAlarm. I logged in and created an access password and nickname for my home computer. I could see the little GoToMyPC icon in the task bar.

I booted up my laptop and logged into GoToMyPC.com. A little Java applet loaded into my browser (it works seamlessly in Opera, by the way.) My home computer showed up in My Account. I clicked on it. Voila! I had full, complete access. I sent myself an e-mail using the e-mail app on my desktop PC. I made a Radio post. I copied a file. I browsed my desktop. It all worked like a charm – pinging through my firewall in both directions and routing through the GoToMyPC servers with very little delay.

Using GoToMyPC I can now access my home system from any web browser – a friend’s computer, a cyber café, anywhere I can download the Java applet the browser needs to make a connection. And security seems reasonable with the double password system and encrypted data transfer. So far there don’t seem to be any conflicts or problems. ExpertCity, the makers of the GoToMyPC service, say it works equally well, albeit slower, over dial-up.

The cost -- $20/mo or $15/mo if I buy a year in advance -- is a little more than I would spend to setup VPN hardware. But it’s much less than I would spend futzing around trying to get a VPN working. I’m going to do this, for now. I’ll let you know how it goes.